Mrs. Lopez and Six Confirmation Girls (Lower West Side series) 1985

This is a photograph by Milton Rogovin, of Mrs. Lopez and six confirmation girls, likely taken sometime in the late twentieth century. The greyscale palette is full of soft contrasts, with an emphasis on tone and texture. It’s the kind of photograph that feels like it’s observing you, rather than the other way around. I keep returning to the faces in this shot. There's an easy confidence in the way the subjects present themselves that really grabs your attention, a quiet power radiating from their eyes. Compositionally, the careful arrangement of the figures, with the subjects seated on the steps creating a natural foreground, and those standing forming a strong horizontal line, helps to direct the eye and create a sense of balance. Rogovin was deeply interested in the lives of working-class families and communities, and his images are like windows into those lives. Perhaps we can think of his work as being not unlike that of Dorothea Lange, who brought similar attention to the lives of people during the Great Depression. Like all great art, this image leaves us with more questions than answers.